I'm Addicted to the Thrill

Patrick gave me a gentle shove to wake me up. I hit him with a pillow then rolled back over. I wasn't getting up at whatever time the clock said. Even noon would be too early, but it was only half past eight. He hit me with the pillow back, and I finally opened my eyes. My new bed mate smiled at me.

"You suck," I mumbled.

Apparently that was funny to him. As he laughed, I rolled my eyes and pulled the covers up to my chin. Patrick grinned at me once I looked over at him.

"That's not what you were saying last night," smirked Pat.

I turned as red as the jersey he wore. I knew all that had happened the night before. We came home, and it had been great. Actually sleeping with Patrick was better than I had really imagined. Aside from when he made fun of me for what happened the morning after he stayed the night in my bed at the apartment I had shared with Hope.

Patrick stood up. The cold air hit my skin as the blankets were removed from the bed. He gripped me ankles, and I tried to kick hi. This couldn't be good for me. His laughter reached my ears.

He pulled me to the food of the bed and grabbed me by my waist. I started to giggle as he lifted me up.

"Patrick, stop! I'm awake. Put me down," I shrieked. If the neighbors could hear this, I could have only wondered what they thought was going on. Hopefully they couldn't hear this commotion.

"I'll put you down. Soon," he replied.

He shifted to throw me over his shoulder. I hit him with my fist once before he slapped my ass. The act made me start laughing. I couldn't explain it. The behavior was throwing me off in this, at least what I would call it, relationship. Patrick kept on walking, and I gave up fighting it any.

Patrick dropped med on the couch then walked away. I was soon hit with my cell phone. There was one missed call and a text message. Both were from Niki.

"Why did you wake me up?" I asked Patrick as he walked back towards the couch.

I read the new text message from Niki. She wanted me to call her back, but I decided that could wait until later when I was more awake.

"Niki called, woke me up, and I made your plans for the day," said Pat as he handed me a cup of coffee. I stared at him suspiciously. There was no way that him planning my day could be good. In fact, it could be terrible.

"What am I doing?"

"Going dress shopping."

"Is that why Niki called?"

Patrick nodded as I drank my coffee. He stood up and left me sitting there. It made sense that Niki needed to do her dress shopping. My job would probably be to help her decide and find the bridesmaid dresses. That would be nice, but I did have a job that I had to be at.

I shivered. Sitting on the couch in a bra and underwear only was no exactly warm in October. The warmth provided by the coffee was waning. I drank the rest of what was in my mug and stood up to look at Patrick as he entered the room again.

"Niki's coming to get you," said Patrick.

"What about my job?" I asked him.

"I texted Anna from your phone. She thinks you have food poisoning," he admitted.

I laughed my way back to my room. It occurred to me that this wasn't the room I had slept in. The bed was completely made up, and nothing had changed from when I left for work the day before. I smiled faintly at the thought.

-x-

Niki walked out of the dressing room in the second dress she had picked out. I smiled at her before sneaking a glance at Christine and Madi. It had to be one of us that told her that this particular dress was not the one. Something about it was just off. I decided to speak up.

"I'm not a fan of this one."

Christine and Madi stared at me with wide eyes. Niki turned and looked at herself in the mirror. Maybe it would have been best if I kept my mouth shut. The bride-to-be turned and looked at the three of us.

"The choice is too hard," said my closest friend.

She started to laugh, and I sighed in relief. At least she didn't seem to mind me saying anything about this. She went back into the dressing room and came back out in her street clothes. I was glad that she came to sit with us when she did.

"Y'know, I still don't know how you and Johnny met," said Christine.

I hadn't heard the story before in my life either. It was actually something I had not thought about before, but now with the wedding a little under two months away, I wanted to know how the couple had gotten together.

"I guess, I can tell you."

Niki told us a story about this guy, Shane. He had been a coworker of hers before they had gotten together. He wasn't a friend to her whatsoever before then. He had been rude to her and not a true friend. When they got together, he broke up with her for his ex. Niki had been heartbroken, she told us.

That was what led her to Captain Serious. The two had been at a bar. Johnny was there with Kris Versteeg and Patrick, and he had seen her with her friends. She seemed to be upset about something. I guessed, correctly it turned out, that it was the day after she and Shane broke up. I bit my tongue to keep from saying anything during her story.

He had cheered her up. Jonathan had made Niki happier than she had been since before she even was Shane's friend. They were perfect for each other. She actually then admitted that Johnny told her later on that Patrick had convinced him to go talk to her.

When she ended her story, I smiled. I was glad to hear that something so bad had led her to the perfect guy for her. Everyone needed a dud in their life before they got with the man that made them happy. It proved even more to me that Jonathan and Niki were perfect for each other. I almost felt like I should have been thanking Patty for it when I got home later.

"Go try on a new dress. You need to find the perfect one," I told her after a moment of silence. I smiled brightly at my friend.

She came out in another dress, and I knew that this was it. I looked at the way she looked in the dress, and the smile on my lips got wider.

"That's it. That's the one," smiled Madi.

We all agreed on the dress, and I turned my attention to the bridesmaid dresses that we had been told to try on. I almost laughed at the idea of wearing the color. I wondered whether or not Niki had decided on the bright red or if Johnny had talked her into it.

I took one of the styles of dresses and came out wearing it. I stared at the mirror image of myself and somehow thought of what it looked like to be in red. My eyes went straight to my chest. I laughed at myself in the mirror.

"Dani, please wear that around Kaner," laughed Madi. Apparently that's where everyone else's eyes went. I smiled at sat back down still in the dress.

"Hey, you two go try on your dresses. Patrick only gets to see this at the wedding," I smiled. I stuck my tongue out at Madi and Christine as they went to get into their dresses.

As Niki and I sat there alone, I smiled at her. She looked happy. In fact, I always thought she looked happy when it had to do with Jonathan. I wished that I could have that happiness with someone, and I almost felt that it would be possible eventually. Just maybe it would take some time.